The Kite That Bridged Two Nations: Homan Walsh and the First Niagara Suspension Bridge

Gr 2-8--Homan Walsh, the best kite flyer in a small town near Niagara Falls, had a dream. He hoped to win a contest that challenged participants to fly a kite across the Falls bridging the U.S. and Canada. The winner's string would then be used as a guideline for the cables of the first American suspension bridge. Told in poetic free verse, the book details the young narrator's emotional journey as he prepared for the engineer-sponsored contest by making a kite he named "Union." The boy's account is filled with robust scientific observation and inquiry. Homan had to travel to Canada to catch the beneficial southwest wind: "I clumped and ferried cross the roiling river." He temporarily lost his kite and had to repair it and start anew. The rich language and the evocative oil paintings make these subjects of history and civil engineering come alive. The illustrations give a strong sense of the vastness of the gorge, the minuteness of man, and the arduous task of getting a kite across the Falls. The back matter is particularly helpful in unraveling the fact from the fiction. For libraries looking to strengthen STEM-related units on engineering and 19th-century New York history, this title is a perfect match.--Sara Lissa Paulson, The American Sign Language and English Lower School, New York City

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

." . . O'Neill's spare text communicates both grandeur and dignity and manages to cover a good amount of territory. . . Widener's full-page acrylic paintings closely follow the narrative, emphasizing the harsh winter landscape and giving a clear sense of he odds against spanning the gorge. An extensive author's note spells out what is known and not known abou the story and supplies additional facts abou the building of the bridge." —Booklist

." . . Widener's acrylic paintings capture the determination of the boy, the frozen, deeply chilly landscape, and the danger and power of the falls . . . Memorable and dramatic." —Kirkus Reviews